


Amidst Cowboys and Superheros

by AnotherWriterWhoWrites, KassandraScarlett



Series: RP-ed Fics [4]
Category: Supernatural RPF, Walker (TV 2021)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Jensen Ackles, Jealousy, Keegan has a crush on Jared, M/M, Post-Supernatural (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:48:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29526630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherWriterWhoWrites/pseuds/AnotherWriterWhoWrites, https://archiveofourown.org/users/KassandraScarlett/pseuds/KassandraScarlett
Summary: After Supernatural ended and Jared and Jensen went their own ways, they find themselves back together when Jensen comes to direct a season finale and later on when Kripke himself calls Jared to star as Soldier Boys past boyfriend. Biting back their own emotions and feelings that have been buried for practically fifteen years neither of them can distance themselves as they had before.
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, Slight Keegan Allen/Jared Padalecki
Series: RP-ed Fics [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105076
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	Amidst Cowboys and Superheros

Jared chewed on the inside of his cheek as he stared at the email from the other producers. As executive producer, he was the first to get details about the goings-on of the show but ultimately, had no power to change it in any way. Case in point: Jensen was coming to direct the last two episodes of the season finale.

"Jared?" Keegan appeared, waving a hand in front of his face. "Something up?"

Jared blinked, looking up and breaking out of his trance. He glanced at his phone again, then slid it into his pocket. "Just… Some news from the directors."

"Yeah? Good or bad?"

"I don’t know," Jared said honestly. He took a deep breath. "You know my co-star from Supernatural- Jensen? He's gonna come and direct the next two episodes."

Keegan chewed on his lips. "That's good, right?" He offered. "What I hear, he's a good guy to have on set."

"No, yeah, yeah, he's… He's great. He's an amazing guy, a great director,” Jared said, fidgeting. "Just… Gonna be a little weird."

"What, because of all the dating rumors?" Keegan said teasingly. But he shifted in place, as if uneasy, and an odd expression seemed to flit over his face. "Come on, you've been dealing with it for years." 

Jared gave a small laugh at that. "Yeah I think… Fourteen years, at least? You know how those tabloids are." He rubbed at his forehead. "I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking it."

Keegan slapped his shoulder assuringly. "Come on. Time to be on set."

Jared forced a smile and nodded, following his co-star but unable to keep from thinking about Jensen. Had Jensen asked to come direct?

Almost as soon as he arrived on set, he felt that familiar sixth sense, a tingle up his spine, almost immediately knowing that Jensen had arrived. The air had shifted for everyone present, all attention turned to him because that was who he was. Jensen commanded attention and respect in every step he took, whether he realized it or not.

Swallowing hard, Jared tried to force himself to listen to whatever Keegan was telling him.

His efforts were shot to hell when a familiar- too familiar- voice called out to him, “Jared!”

Jared took a deep breath and forced himself to turn around, feeling his stomach drop at the sight of Jensen coming towards him. And then, it was like they'd never parted- everything he’d felt for Jensen for so long, every ounce of emotion, immediately surged up, and he swallowed hard. "Jensen," he breathed out, heart racing in his chest.

Before he even realized it, Jensen had closed the remaining distance between them in a few long strides, pulling Jared into a hug without hesitation.

It was muscle memory to bring his arms up and hold Jensen close, tucking himself into his neck despite the height difference- and the size difference, considering how he had bulked up lately.

Jensen held onto him for a few long seconds before letting go and stepping back. "So..." He raked his eyes over Jared's form and smirked, though his eyes shone with unrestrained joy. "Ready to show me how hopeless you are on set without me?"

Jared grinned back- it was soothing to fall back into the banter that came easily to then. "More like I’m about to show you what a real Texas ranger can do."

Jensen rolled his eyes. "The day you become a real ranger, I'll go vegan. Come on." He hooked an arm around Jared's shoulder and dragged him towards the cameras, while Jared easily followed him. It was literally instinct for him at this point. 

"I'll have you know that it's in my blood. I have an ancestor that was a Texas ranger," Jared said, wagging his finger at him, falling in step with him with ease. "What about you? How's Toronto treating you?"

"Trying to give me frostbite," Jensen answered promptly. "And the costume is tight. In uncomfortable places. But the cast is great, man, and Eric's as crazy as ever."

Before he could stop himself, he remembered the episodes where Jensen got to play dress-up as Dean, when the costumes would hug every inch of his body just right, tantalizing viewers with a hint of what lay underneath. "It can't be that much colder than Vancouver," he pointed out when he could use words again.

"Says you, while hanging out in Texas," Jensen scoffed. "Anyway, hey, how have you been, man? Seriously?"

It took everything Jared had not to lean in closer to Jensen, wanting to reach out the remaining distance and wrap an arm around his shoulders, and maybe pour his heart out in the same breath. "Honestly? Really good," he confessed. "I loved Supernatural and I miss it like crazy, but it's great to be doing something else." He glanced at his phone. "And to be able to go on social media more than before."

Jensen hummed. "Yeah, I noticed," he said dryly. "Not to mention all the photoshoots."

Jared ducked his head, hiding another grin. "The photo shoots were a lot of fun," he admitted. His voice took on a mischievous tone. "You saw them? You didn't really comment on them." Half of him wondered if Jensen had been even a little affected by those magazine spreads.

Jensen just shot him an amused look, lips twitching as if he was about to laugh. “I was going to but Instagram had a limit on my comments.”

“Instagram doesn’t have a character limit,” Jared said accusingly. 

“That’s how much mocking I had in me.”

Jared rolled his eyes but smiled as well. "Cmon, there's someone I want you to meet,” he said, excited for this. He led them towards a barn, where they kept the horses, leading him to his own. "This is Roadie."

Roadie was a gorgeous black mare and she glanced at them with slight disinterest, tail flicking behind her. "She's beautiful," Jensen murmured, reaching for her. "Do they let you take her out for a ride?"

"Not yet," Jared said with a bit of a pout as he slid his fingers over her nose, grinning when she moved her head towards him, nudging for more pets. "I keep trying to figure out how to sneak her out and just let her stretch her legs."

"What do you know, the famous puppy eyes don't work all that well on the Walker set?" Jensen laughed.

"Didn't really have a chance to use them, I've been trying to get their attention outside of emails," Jared said with a laugh of his own. "I think there's a scene in your episode of me riding her though."

“Awesome,” he heard Jensen mutter, but there was a tightness he couldn’t quite decipher. He turned towards him and was about to ask when there was the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Hate to break up the love fest-” Keegan said, hands in his pockets as he looked at the both of them. “-but they want us back on set, now.”

Jared let out a small sound of disappointment, nuzzling at Roadie once more and softly promising to bring her more carrots. "Alright, c'mon," he said, glancing at Jensen. "Do you need to meet with any of the writers or producers?"

Jensen shook his head. “Already done, saved you for last,” he said, nudging at Jared's arm, casting a side glance towards Keegan. “Except your new brother, of course.”

Jared felt a small pang at the word ‘brother’ but smiled. “You guys will love each other, you have a lot more in common than you think.”

He could see from the corner of his eyes how Jensen and Keegan were carefully eyeing each other, and Keegan was the first to break. 

“It's good to meet you, Jensen," he greeted, holding out a hand. 

When Jensen smiled back, Jared noted that he was showing a little too much teeth. "Likewise," he said flatly.

Jared glanced between the both of them, eyeing how just tense their shoulders were and how tightly they were gripping each other's hands, knuckles turning whites, and he was sure that neither of them were blinking as they stared at one another. 

"Everything okay guys?" He dared to ask.

"Super." Jensen let go of Keegan, and flicked his fingers at Jared. "Come on, Ranger, let's get this show on the road."

Jared smiled at him, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at him. "I just gotta do a quick thing in makeup and outfit, then I'll be right back," he said and quickly ducked into the next building, smiling at the artist who almost immediately started fussing around him.

Jared let out a small sigh as she quickly retouched his makeup. He put his clothes back on for Walker, tucking the shirt in and rolling his shoulders back to make sure that he could still move around in it. The last step was to put the hat on and he stared at himself in the mirror, feeling a trepidation that had been missing before now. "Okay, you can do this," he murmured to himself.

Coming back onto set, he could see Jensen do a double-take at him and, for the first time, felt a bit shy in his costume. It was completely different from anything he wore as Sam Winchester or as himself. He went to his side and spread his arms. "Alright, let it out. All the mockery you can do in thirty seconds."

For a few seconds, Jensen didn’t say anything. Then, seemingly, he forced a smile. “You look ridiculous,” he told him. 

Jared scoffed at that. "That's it?" He asked. "If I wanted that kind of lacklustre wit, I'd text Rob. C'mon, man." He turned in a circle. "I know you got more in you."

Jensen rolled his eyes. "Fine. You look like an overgrown redwood tree and your hair gives you a Hallmark heartthrob feel. Happy?"

Jared laughed. "See? Knew you had it in you," he said, wrapping his arm around Jensen’s shoulders. "Man, Toronto made you rusty."

Jensen leaned into him and Jared tried not to nuzzle closer. 

"Yeah. You look good though," Jensen admitted softly. "Texas been good to you?"

"Really good," Jared said quietly. "It's like… A whole new chapter, a new start. It's amazing, Jen." He lingered for as long as he could before he knew he was about to be shooed onto set. Reluctantly he pulled away from Jensen, walking towards Keegan, who was waiting patiently.

"Ready?" Keegan raised both eyebrows. "This is gonna be an intense one."

"Yeah, I know." Jared shook his head good naturedly. "Why do the writers have us fighting and rolling around on the ground so much?"

"Pretty sure they learned that from you Winchesters," Keegan pointed out.

"We didn't fight each other that much," Jared protested. "We mostly did it with everyone else."

Keegan chuckled, but let it go, as Jensen began calling out for lights and sounds checks.

Jared glanced at Jensen once more as he shifted into place, looking back at Keegan and going over his lines in his head. He heard Jensen call, "Action," and straightened, wiping his face. 

"So what the hell do you mean by that?" He demanded, letting his accent come through a bit more. "You have no right to tell me I'm moving on too fast."

Liam grit his teeth. "Nobody's stopping you from moving on. But a guy who showed up in town just a month ago, right at the time Emily's death is declared a closed case?" He shook his head. "He gives me a bad feeling and I'm telling you, if something seems too good to be true, then it's probably not real."

"Just say the truth, it bothers you that the person I might be moving on with is a man," Cordell said, shaking his head. "I know I haven't always been the most out and proud, but I at least expect some sort of support from you."

Liam looked offended. "Remember who you're talking to for a second. I am the last person to judge you for dating a man. But brother..." He reached forward, tightly curling his fingers around the side of Cordell's neck. "Believe me when I say: that man reeks of trouble."

Cordell pressed back into the touch, eyes closed for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he swore that he could catch a hint of a different cologne. "Dean," he said, ready to argue his point- Jared cursed under his breath, hanging his head. "Goddamn it." The take was definitely ruined.

Jensen wasn’t calling “Cut.” 

Jared could feel his gaze and he felt his blush deepen in embarrassment. He brought his head up sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he felt his cheeks redden.

Keegan had stepped away from Jared, looking apprehensive. 

When Jared finally met his eyes, Jensen shook his head. "Really, Jared," he drawled. "I was heartbroken thinking you didn't miss me at all."

The tension broke and everyone on set started chuckling.

Jared took his hat off and threw it at Jensen- it was the only thing he could throw other than Keegan. "Don't be so smug, I was just feeling nostalgic cause you're here."

"Awww, Jay," Jensen cooed. "I knew you cared."

Jared narrowed his eyes and fought the urge to throw something else at him. "Oh because you never messed up a shot, Mr. "Two-Takes-Ackles."

"Well, hey, it's not like you didn't make a mission out of making me mess up all the time!"

"You were the one that was always trying to make me break my concentration," Jared reminded him. "And besides, most of the time it was other people trying to mess us up."

Jensen grinned as Keegan cleared his throat. "Uh, let's try again?"

Jared blinked and turned back to him. "Yeah, we should." He grabbed his hat away from Jensen and put it back on, coming back to stand on his mark. "I'm ready."

Jensen took a moment to make sure that everything was in place. "Action!"

"So what the hell do you mean by that?" He repeated, trying to push out all thoughts of Jensen out of his mind. "You have no right to tell me I'm moving on too fast."

Liam looked at him, sadly, repeating the take they'd ruined by placing his hand on Cordell's neck. "He reeks of trouble, brother. You have to believe me."

Cordell stared at his brother and shook his head, not pulling away. "Liam. He makes me happy," he managed to get out, voice cracking. "I haven't been this happy since Emily… Died." his voice hitched at the end, the realization still paining him.

Liam sighed, his hand dropping. "I know. I'm sorry for that, I am."

"No, you're not," Cordell said, stepping away from him. "Because he warned me about this; he told me that you wouldn't be happy for me, that you'd try to get me to stop seeing him."

"And you're going to believe him over me?" Liam snapped.

"Well, he's not the one that keeps throwing it in my face that I might not have done enough with Emily's death," Cordell snapped. "And I did do everything that I could, but enough is enough."

"So, what, you're just going to throw caution to the wind, like some amateur fool?" Liam demanded.

Cordell came forward and pushed Liam as hard as he could, satisfied when it made him stumble and almost fall. "Don't call me a fool, brother," he warned.

Liam snarled, grabbing the outstretched arm and tugging. His hand wrapped around Cordell's throat and he pushed, the two of them landing on the ground with Liam pinning his older brother's shoulders.

Cordell gave a grunt as he felt his head collide with the ground, feeling his brother settle on top of him. 

"Cut!" Jensen yelled, breaking both of their concentrations.

At that, they both looked towards him, neither Jared nor Keegan moving just yet. "Was that good or should we go again?"

Jensen quickly glanced at the screen. "Nope, we're done," he yelled back. "Keegan, you can take a break, we'll do the scenes with the kids now."

Jared nodded and waited for Keegan to get off of him before taking the offered hand and standing. "Thanks for not putting all your weight on me, Kee," he teased.

"There's a time and place for that too," Keegan laughed. 

Jensen cleared his throat loudly. "Move it on, guys, come on."

Jared grinned and went to stand by his side once more as they waited for the kids to come on set. "So, different from Supernatural, huh?"

Jensen licked his lips. "Very different," he said quietly.

"How's it feel, directing this versus directing Supernatural?" Jared asked.

"Well, directing you, specifically, is..." Jensen shrugged. "Little weird. Like, I don't know your Walker nearly as well as I knew Sam. I don't know how you see him."

"Well, I see him as a hard-headed and hard-working man who tries to carry everything on his shoulder," Jared said. "He's single-minded, so that meant he missed a lot of stuff with his family and the guilt eats him up at night. He feels responsible for his wife's death and, honestly? I see a lot of Sam in him."

Jensen smiled a little. "And… The brother?"

Jared grinned. "Wise-ass who thinks he knows better than anyone and gets mad when people don't listen," he said. "But a good heart and just wants desperately for his brother to be okay and not hurting. They both knew he wasn’t talking about Liam Walker.

Jensen finally laughed. "You wanna hang out after pack-up? I'll buy you dinner."

Jared perked up at that, grinning and nodding rapidly. "Guess your wallet has been in recovery for too long after not treating me to food," he said a bit smugly. "I'll fix that."

Jensen rolled his eyes fondly and nudged him towards the sound stage. "Go, you ass, back to your mark."

Jared grinned widely at him and clapped his hand on Jensen's shoulder once more before hurrying back into place, greeting the teen actors with a quick hug.

* * *

Later on, when Jared was about to leave his trailer, he was barely able to keep himself from running straight into Jensen. To his surprise, Jensen was waiting for him right in front of his door.

"Jen, hey," he said with a grin. "I was about to try and find you." He carefully locked up and started to lead them out. "What are you in the mood for?" He asked, sliding his hands into his pockets, smiling at the familiarity. Replace Texas with Vancouver and the warm weather with cold air and it was like nothing had ever changed.

"That place near Danneel's brewery still open?" 

"Yep, and getting raving reviews," Jared said with a nod. "Actually went there with Keegan the other day, the steaks practically melted in your mouth."

"That's great. Come on, I'm starving," Jensen said somewhat tightly, leading them towards the parking lot. 

Jared nodded once more, checking his phone quickly to make sure that no one needed him for the rest of the day, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "Just gotta make a quick stop with the producers." When he came back, he was going to have to see what was bothering Jensen.

"Do you really?" Jensen asked in a pained voice. "Just text 'em, you've got a hot date."

Jared glanced around. "I do? Where?" He teased. "It'll just be five minutes."

"Screw you, I'm the hottest guy you know," Jensen muttered, but shoved Jared lightly.

"I don't know about that, I know tons of hot guys." Jared told him with a joking grin. "Am I meeting them all at the restaurant?"

Jensen glared. "Fuck you, Padalecki."

"Fuck me yourself, Ackles."

Jensen laughed it off. "Just hurry up."

Jared stuck his tongue out at him and quickly ducked into the building to have the fastest possible meeting with the producers so he and Jensen could leave.

It only took a few minutes after all, though to Jared, it felt like hours. When he finally managed to duck out, hurrying back to Jensen. he caught the end of a heated conversation.

He saw Keegan and Jensen glaring at one another, and if he wasn’t mistaken, they almost looked like they were about to start a brawl.

"Jen? Kee?" Jared called softly, coming back to them and watching between him and Keegan. "What's going on?"

Jensen turned to him, almost physically relaxing at the sight of him. "Keegan wanted a word," he said.

Keegan half glanced at Jensen again. "Nothin' that can't wait till later," he said, reaching out and clasping Jared's shoulder. "See you tomorrow, Jare."

Jensen grabbed Jared's wrist. "Come on, I got reservations, we don't wanna be late. Night, Keegan, great talk."

Jared almost stumbled at the force of Jensen's pull. "Wait, how do you have reservations? I'm the one that told you about it like five minutes ago."

Jensen scoffed, wrinkling his nose. "I'm a miracle-worker, obviously." He got to his car and held open the passenger door with a mocking bow. "Princess."

Jared snorted. "Hey, between the two of us, you're the one that's worn a crown," he reminded him.

"I was the king," Jensen pointed out. "Now come on." 

"King of being a pain in my ass," Jared mumbled under his breath, grinning despite himself. 

The rest of the evening was… Good. More than good. 

It was relaxing and familiar and so, so comforting that he didn't have the words for it. Jared couldn’t help lean into Jensen, trying to feel as much of touch as possible, and hoped he didn't notice.

At the end of the night, Jensen leaned back into him. "Been a good night, right?"

"The best. I needed that," Jared said with a pleased sigh. He nuzzled closer to Jensen. "After all of Walker and covid, this is so nice."

Jensen hummed. "We've got an early call tomorrow," he reminded, sounding reluctant. "I should get back to my hotel. You need to get back to your dogs."

Jared chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought about just… Asking Jensen to stay the night with him. "Yeah, the dogs get huffy with me if I'm not back to give them a nightly walk," he said. "Want to… Come with?"

"At your place?" Jensen blinked, then smiled brightly. "Absolutely, yeah. Thanks."

Jared grinned at him. "Great, the dogs miss you too," he said as they got back into Jensen's car. "Remember how to get back to my place?"

"I'm not the one who needs a GPS everywhere I go."

"That was one time!" Jared protested. "One time and even you had no idea where to go!"

"Lies and slander."

"Hard truth that doesn't want to be heard," Jared shot back.

Jensen just pushed him into the car. "Come on, Jay," he laughed. "Let's go home."

_ Home _ . The word shouldn't make him feel so warm inside but Jared smiled. "Yeah," he said softly. "Let’s."

* * *

In the morning, Jared ducked into the barn once more to meet with Roadie, petting her nose. As long as Jensen was off in a meeting with the writers, Jared would wait here.

“Hey,” he heard a familiar voice call to him softly. He turned around and smiled at Keegan who was coming into the barn.

"Hey," Jared greeted. "Did they finally change the script to let us ride together?"

"Yeah, some sort of long-winded emotional talk with a lot of manly tears," Keegan said, with a roll of his eyes. "But yes, at least, I get to ride."

Jared chuckled. "Okay those, they had to have gotten from Supernatural. Jensen is probably gonna feel so nostalgic watching this."

"Speaking of," Keegan started cautiously. "How was your date last night?" 

Jared blinked at that, turning to look at him. "Date?" He repeated. "I wasn't on a date, I was with Jensen."  _ If only. _

"Right, that's good," Keegan muttered, with a nervous smile.

Jared rubbed the back of his neck, anxious suddenly. "I mean, it was just the two of us and we went out to eat and then we went back to my place so that we could walk the dogs together, then we ended up drinking coffee and talking for a while longer," he babbled. "I guess some people would consider it a date but we've always done and it was never awkward or anything, but you know how people are at times and how everything is supposed to be romantic and why can't it just be two friends catching up?" He trailed off, then buried his face in Roadie’s flank, appalled at his own word-vomit.

"Of course," Keegan agreed easily. "And I'm glad you had fun. But I'm kinda hoping to do a few of those things with you and I'd like it to be an actual date, if you're on board."

Jared froze. He slowly looked up at him. "You want to… What?"

Keegan looked hopeful. "I'm asking- I'd like to ask you out. On a date. A romantic one." He shrugged. "Just, you know, to be clear."

"A romantic date?" Jared repeated, feeling a deep blush spread over his cheeks and down his neck. He fought the urge to hide behind Roadie again. "I-" He was saved from answering by Jensen’s sudden appearance.

Jensen paused at the entrance of the barn, looking between them slightly suspiciously. "Um... We're ready to shoot."

"Yeah, right, shooting," Jared said, moving away from Roadie and Keegan, running a hand down his face. "I just gotta… Gotta check on something." He quickly left the barn, not looking at either of them.

He walked around aimlessly, not really knowing where he could go, especially if he was being called to set. 

Keegan wanted to go out with him. On a date. 

Jared chewed on his lip and ran his fingers through his hair, pacing relentlessly. What was he supposed to do? He hadn’t been on a real date in… Years. He’d never wanted to.

Some time later, Jensen found him, staring mindlessly at the cars in the parking lot. "Hey." He placed a hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"

Jared whirled around to face him. "Yeah! Yeah, totally, totally okay. Everything is fine and good and I really should get back inside cause we gotta get to set and we have a lot of things to get done with today and I really should get back in-"

"Dude." Jensen placed both hands on his shoulders now. "Breathe. Rewind. Play."

Jared took a deep breath, moving forward to place his head on Jensen's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Jensen asked, frown audible, holding him carefully.

Jared took a deep breath. "Keegan asked me out," he told him. "On a date. A romantic date."

He could feel how Jensen froze.

"Jensen?"

"A date, huh?" 

Jared couldn’t really recognize the tone or pitch of Jensen's voice, and that worried him more than anything. 

"That's nice. You going?"

Jared pulled back, frowning at him in worry. "I...I don't know."

Jensen stayed silent, cupping Jared’s face and studying him with dark eyes.

Jared stared back, something fluttering in his chest at the scrutiny. "Jen?"

He watched how hard Jensen swallowed, letting his hand drop. "You like him?" He asked. "Because he's definitely kinda crazy about you. This could be good, Jay."

Jared’s eyes widened, disappointment hitting sharp. That was not what he’d reluctantly hoped or expected to hear. "He is?" He asked, looking towards the direction he had run from. "I didn't know."

"You never do," Jensen chuckled, strained.

Jared sighed. Whatever his own feelings, he could trust Jensen’s judgement. "Guess I should go back and give him my answer."

"What's it gonna be?" 

Jared rubbed the back of his neck again, tugging the short strands and wishing that he could grow it out again. "I guess… I guess I'll say yes. He's a good guy, he's nice and funny and really supportive." He gave a bit of a nervous laugh., suddenly hating the somber mood. "We were messing around the other day and he picked me up, I guess to show off or something, and held me while he did squats for like thirty seconds. I mean, you know I like that."

"Right." Jensen’s smile still slightly strained. "So what's stopping you?'

"I don't know," Jared lied, shifting in place and looking around. "Just… Guess I'm nervous?"

"Jared," Jensen said softly, cupping his face again. "It's okay to want to take a risk. To want something for yourself."

His therapist had said the same thing before, but it was different hearing it from Jensen. He reached up and held onto Jensen's hand. "What if it doesn't work out?" He whispered.  _ What if I never get over you?  _

Jensen smiled wryly. "You'll still have me."

Jared closed his eyes, pressing more into him. "I'll always have you," he said softly, hurt and gratitude rising up together. "And you'll always have me."

Jensen smiled, stroking his thumb across Jared's cheekbone once, before letting him go. "Come on, cowboy. We got a scene to shoot and then you can go get your man."

Jared forced a grin at that, reaching up to fix his hair. "Alright, let's do this."

* * *

"So?" Keegan asked quietly, when they were taking a break. "You never answered."

Jared swallowed the mouthful of the sandwich he had crammed into his mouth, quickly washing it down with a gulp of water, trying to buy time. "Yeah, sorry about that, just kinda… Didn't see it coming," he said apologetically. "And… Yeah, I'd like to."

Keegan lit up immediately. "Really? So... Can I pick you up for dinner tonight?"

He had made tentative plans with Jensen tonight but rescheduling wouldn't be that bad, right? "Sounds great," he agreed, feeling a weird tight sensation in his chest.

Jensen walled over. "Packing up for the night. Ready to go home?" He barely glanced at Keegan. "Besides, I'm not letting you go on a date before dressing you up myself."

Jared rolled his eyes. "There is nothing wrong with my fashion sense," he protested. "And besides, comfort is more important than style."

"Have I ever put you in something that makes you uncomfortable?" Jensen asked seriously, as he hauled him to his feet. He finally looked at Keegan. "Wear something in dark green," he ordered.

Keegan blinked at that, glancing between him and Jared. "Alright." 

"Great," Jensen said faux-cheerfully. "Bye then." He tugged on Jared's arm, wanting to get out of there.

Jared was smiling as Jensen led him to their car. "Alright, what are you going to make me wear?"

"That green scarf you love," Jensen replied, a little shortly. He was probably tired out, jet-lag catching up a day later. "Black button-down."

Jared had to admit that it was a good combination. "And what if I had already been planning to wear that?" He challenged.

Jensen shook his head, a little smile on his lips. "Then I'd say that I've finally had some influence on you."

Jared smiled and then shook his head. "Nah, I'd be lying if I said that. I was planning on the red pants and blue shirt. But the scarf was there too."

Jensen didn't answer, just took them home.

Two hours later, Jared stared at himself in the mirror, wishing that he could grab his beanie as well. "I don't even know where we're going," he told Jensen, who was sitting on the edge of his bed.

Jensen jumped a little. "Uh... Well, he probably already knows what you like and stuff. So, just..." He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you trying to talk yourself out of it?"

"No! I'm not. Promise," Jared said quickly. "Just… Nervous. haven't done this in a while."

Jensen hummed suspiciously, just as the bell rang. "There he is," he muttered.

Jared started slightly and whirled towards the direction of the door, looking at himself in the mirror again. "Can… Can you get that? Please?"

Jensen nodded and left the room, leaving Jared to stare at himself in the mirror, lightly clapping his cheeks with his hands. “You can do this,” he whispered, just as he heard Jensen call for him. He nodded once more and swallowed hard, but came out of the bedroom, grinning at Keegan. 

"Hey," he said. "Ready to go?"

Keegan smiled widely at the sight of him. "Yeah, definitely. You look great."

"Thanks. You look good too. Green is a good color on you," Jared said, reaching out to touch the green shirt. He grabbed his jacket and wallet. "Jen, you wanna stay here or go back to your hotel room?"

Jensen looked around. "I'll go to the hotel," he decided.

"Alright, I'll lock up then," Jared said, shooting the dogs a look to get them to stop their whining. The three of them stepped out of the house together. 

Jared lingered for a moment. "I'll call you later, Jen," he said, going with Keegan towards the other man's car.

Jensen didn't stand to watch them leave, just left.

Jared got in the car and pretended he didn't immediately miss him. 


End file.
